Each Spring, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis stages a play by the Bard in an area of Forest Park just east of the St. Louis Art Museum. This year, the production is Twelfth Night which will run nightly except Tuesdays from May 24 through June 16. But before rehearsals for the main event even begin, the organization is active with pre-season offerings.
For the third year, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis is tackling the issue of bullying with its educational production. This year’s offering is Winning Juliet, a new musical by SFSTL Education Director Christopher Limber and playwright Elizabeth Birkenmeier. The music is composed by David Toretta, a rock musician and producer for Chuck Berry.
The plot of Winning Juliet centers on cyber-bullying. In the musical, a bullied girl named Julie, afraid to audition for a part in the school play because of student harassment, sends the director her audition tape -- Juliet’s suicide scene -- in a YouTube link. The video is hacked and goes viral because her classmates think the video is real and Julie is expelled.
The musical features students from Grand Center Arts Academy, Clyde Miller Career Academy, Clayton High School and Webster Groves High School who are participating in SFSTL’s annual semester-long MetroYouth Shakespeare residency program. Performances are April 26 and 27 and May 3 and 4 at 8:00 p.m. in Clayton High School’s Little Theatre. There are also a number of matinees for students.
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis also hosts SHAKE38, a marathon of all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays in locations all over St. Louis beginning Friday, April 19 and concluding on Tuesday, April 23, the Bard’s birthday. They range from fully staged productions to readings in coffee houses and restaurants. In addition to the scheduled productions, there will be a series of daily Blind Shakes in which members of the community are invited to a pre-designated location and encouraged to participate in a reading of a play. The script and accompanying part to be read will be distributed on site.
SFSTL Education Director Chris Limber was Steve Potter’s guest on “Cityscape” to discuss Winning Juliet and SHAKE38.
Related Events
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Presents "Winning Juliet"
April 26 and 27 and May 3 and 4, 2013
8:00 p.m.
Clayton High School's Little Theatre, 1 Mark Twain Circle
(314) 531-9800
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Website
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Presents Shake38
April 19 - 23, 2013
Various Times, Various Locations
(314) 531-9800
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Website
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Presents "Twelfth Night"
May 24 - June 16, 2013
8:00 p.m.(nightly except Tuesdays) Green Show at 6:30 p.m.
Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park
(314) 531-9800
Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Website
